highlander of the issue
junior starts nonprofit for kids with cancer
Olivia Zhang’s Cancer Kids First provides support for children fighting the disease TARA PANDEY REPORTER
W
hen she was 12 years old, junior Olivia Zhang lost two of the most important people in her life, her grandfather and her former teacher, to cancer. Zhang struggled heavily with the losses. Her grandfather was her role model, and she had a very close relationship with her teacher, visiting her regularly even after leaving elementary school. When her grandfather received his diagnosis, Zhang and her family flew to China to take care of him. During her visit she stayed by his side, using her talent for painting to comfort him. Once she arrived back in the U.S., Zhang decided to use her love for painting to raise money for her grandfather’s treatment. She sold her paintings through her Instagram page to fundraise, but it did not make as big of an impact as she had hoped.
“Both [my grandfather and my teacher] always motivated me to be better than who I was at that time,” Zhang said. “Losing both of them so close together, I realized that just selling artwork to raise money was not going to be enough. It opened my eyes to how many people were impacted by cancer.” She decided to find a way to make an impact in the lives of future patients fighting cancer, specifically pediatric cancer patients. “I had to watch my grandfather go through the unimaginable,” Zhang said. “I can’t even fathom little kids going through that.” - OLIVIA ZHANG Thus, the nonprofit organization Cancer Kids First (CKF) was born JUNIOR in 2019. According to their website, CKF aims to provide young children diagnosed with cancer with a more enjoyable childhood. Zhang organizes toy and book drives, then sends the donations to pediatric hospitals to help patients pass the time. Volunteers
I HAD TO WATCH MY GRANDFATHER GO THROUGH THE UNIMAGINABLE. I CAN’T EVEN FATHOM LITTLE KIDS GOING THROUGH THAT.”
10 | FEATURES | DECEMBER 2021
Photos courtesy of Olivia Zhang | Page design by Tara Pandey & Taylor Olson
